The Kings (12-20) came into the game with an embarrassing 1-13 road record, 0-4 vs. the Eastern Conference. The Cavs had beaten the Kings in 10 of their last 11 meetings.

None of that mattered when Kings guard Aaron Brooks blew past Irving on Sacramento's next possession for a 94-90 lead with 18.2 seconds left.

The Kings' frontcourt was impressive. Center DeMarcus Cousins powered in 18 points and a game-high 16 rebounds, while power forward Justin Thompson added a team-high 19 points and 10 rebounds.

The Cavs' undoing came in the third quarter when they were outscored, 22-18. They started the second half by making just 3 of 19 shots.

"We can't afford to take a quarter off," Scott said.

Scott tried to jump start the team by inserting hot-shooting C.J. Miles at shooting guard and bringing rookie Dion Waiters off the bench. The move looked great when Miles scored 12 points in the first quarter. Unfortunately for the Cavs, Miles didn't score again, as he missed his final five shots from the field.

Waiters finished with 20 points, 14 in the second quarter, and three assists. He's not thrilled with coming off the bench.

"I'll do whatever they need me to do," Waiters said. "Coach made the change. I can't say anything about it. It was not my decision who starts or who comes off the bench."

Scott said it's a role Waiters was used to at Syracuse.

"That was Syracuse," Waiters said.

Scott said the lineup change went well.

"The third quarter didn't go as well as I wanted it to," he said. "C.J. struggled a little bit in the second half, but all-in-all, I thought it was OK. I think it's one of those situations where we have to see how it does in the next week or so."

Forward Alonzo Gee ended with 16 points, 10 rebounds and six assists for the Cavs.

Veteran forward Luke Walton provided a boost to the Cavs at the start of the fourth quarter. He ended with five points, a season-high seven rebounds and three assists.

Kings coach Keith Smith was happy with his team's performance.

"We played a good game considering we were coming off a back-to-back and had to try to get ourselves going," he said. "We had to make a ton of plays to close this basketball game."